Prospects flock to ND

During the course of his Thursday introductory press conference, the subject of recruiting was tossed at Notre Dame assistant head coach (defense) Jon Tenuta.

"Recruiting is over and done with," Tenuta said. "... We have the junior day coming up on Sunday, but as far as going on the road, you can't go on the road."

But prospects can go on the road, and for a number of big-name players, that road leads to Notre Dame for Sunday's aforementioned junior day. CSTV recruiting analyst Tom Lemming anticipates Notre Dame hosting in the area of 100 juniors.

A few of the players Lemming expects to visit already have ties to ND. West Hartford, Conn., tight end Jake Golic is the son of former Irish standout and current ESPN personality Mike Golic. Mike Golic Jr., an offensive lineman and Jake's older brother, signed with ND earlier this month.

Woodstock, Ill., quarterback Jon Budmayr comes from the same school -- Marian Catholic Central -- as Sean Cwynar, another member of ND's recruiting class of 2008. Cwynar already has enrolled in classes.

And Laurel, Md., defensive back Jordan Love plays at Baltimore's Gilman School. Gilman is the same school that sent Victor Abiamiri and Ambrose Wooden to Notre Dame.

Another player expected to visit this weekend, Louisville, Ky., linebacker Jordan Whiting, doesn't have any glaring ties to ND, but he does have ties to one school. He committed to Ohio State on Sept. 1.

"Any college that I talk to, I let them know up front that I've made my verbal commitment to Ohio State and a lot of coaches come to me and say that, being only a junior, they're not going to give up," Whiting recently told The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal.

"A (lot) of schools tell me I still have some time. But I've told them all up front, Ohio State is definitely where I want to go."

While the Irish have yet to receive that first verbal commitment for 2009, Lemming offers that a commitment is always possible, especially with players who play within driving distance of South Bend. The reason? Familiarity.

That would appear to be the case with some of the nation's giants. USC has nine verbal commitments. Ohio State and Texas each have seven. And Georgia has five.

The common denominator in those groups is proximity. All of SC's pledges hail from California. Each of the Texas commitments is a product of the Longhorn state. Georgia's five are all Georgians. Ohio State's lone non-Ohio player is Whiting, who lives about 200 miles from Columbus.

"The key is familiarizing the player with, not only the coaching staff, but the university," Lemming said. "The more familiar they are with the university, the more likely they are, with all things being equal, choosing the school they're most familiar with."

With the 2008 recruiting cycle over -- Notre Dame's recently signed class ranked second nationally -- Lemming warns that it's no time to rest on last year's laurels.

"You can not ever let up," he said. "You never have a bad year in recruiting, or you pay for it in the future."

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